Surrey Launches Batch of Three DMC MicroSats

SPACEMART

Surrey Launches Batch of Three DMC MicroSats
Guildford - Sep 27, 2003
The world's first small satellite constellation dedicated to monitoring global disasters has been launched by British company, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd.

Three further satellites for Surrey's Disaster Monitoring Constellation were launched into low Earth orbit today, 27 September 2003, at 06:09 GMT onboard a Kosmos launcher from Plesetsk in northern Russia.

The satellites, for Nigeria, Turkey and the UK, will join AlSAT-1, another Surrey-built satellite, launched for Algeria last November. Together they will transform the ability of international disaster relief organisations to monitor and provide emergency assistance to disaster-stricken zones whenever and wherever they occur.

The DMC may be activated by organisations such as Reuters Foundation AlertNet and the International Charter. At a moment's notice dynamic remote sensing services are available by contacting the satellites from any one of the ground stations to provide rapid response to emergencies.

The DMC birds will provide daily imaging at 32m resolution and up to a 600km swath across the world, enabling rapid repeat imaging for regular updates of disaster situations - something not achievable by any other commercial satellite currently in orbit.
Through this unique international partnership, each satellite is individually owned and operated, but able to benefit from immense shared resources and data, making the DMC a remarkable yet affordable space asset for developing countries. The constellation enables applications that would otherwise require instruments costing hundreds of times as much.

The imaging capability of the DMC spacecraft is remarkable, scanning an area 600km x 600km - ten times that available from any other commercial satellite in orbit. Another first, the constellation can re-image any scene on Earth within 24 hours. Currently the best re-imaging capability from any commercial satellite in space is just once every 16 days.

Algeria has already tapped in to a wealth of available applications such as geological and structural mapping, agricultural damage and yield data, land cover mapping and has also provided images of the Monserrat volcanic eruption to the International Charter.

MICROSAT BLITZ

Surrey Satellite Ready To Launch Disaster Monitoring Constellation

Guildford - Sep 16, 2003
SSTL are preparing for the launch of three more spacecraft in the international Disaster Monitoring Constellation - the first cluster of satellites dedicated to monitoring disasters from space.

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